Yesterday I gave Mason one of those copy & paste interviews that's been making it's way around Facebook.

Without prompting your child, ask him the following questions and see what you get…

How old are you?

“I’m 3!”

When is your birthday?

“What you talking about?”

What’s your favorite animal?

“Elephant.”

What is mommy’s favorite thing to do?

“Work.”

Oh man. Talk about a sucker punch to the gut. Work? Is that really what my kid thinks my favorite thing to do is?

I’ve had horrible mommy guilt lately. Unpacking a whole house while working from home while being a full-time mom is definitely possible, it’s just not pretty. There are many gives and takes. Some days are better than others but there’s never any balance (whoever started using that word, “balance,” was on something). Some days, boxes sit on the dining room table for an entire day (ok, maybe an entire week). Some days my challengers wait too long to hear an answer back from me because I accidentally missed it in the mix of hundreds of notifications.

And some days, when my little guy grabs a hold of my hand, tugs me to his new play room, and pleads ever so sweetly, “Come play, mama,” my response is, “I can’t right now, buddy. Mama has to work.” My eyes are welling up right now in this café as I type that because it’s hard for me to say in the moment, let alone to relive it as I type it later. It’s not that I don’t want to play with him. I do play with him. I just can’t all day. I mean, I could, but I’m certain that I would go absolutely insane feeling that I’ve lost a sense of myself, my passions, and my drive. There’s only so many times I can make-believe as the girl Paw Patrol pup before I wonder what the hell I’m doing with my life.

So with a response like “I can’t right now, buddy. Mama has to work,” it’s no wonder he thinks work is my favorite thing. I do this “work” thing over playing, and playing is really fun in his little mind.

But after that lump in my throat passed from his answer to that copy & pasted question, I thought about this for a second. Kids see the truth. And this kid is on to something. Work is one of my favorite things to do, and why is that so wrong? Work is my play. It’s fun for me. And I’m demonstrating that to Mason every day by giving my passionate attention to something other than him.

So now, all of a sudden, my guilt has turned into pride. And maybe that’s me trying to justify my actions, but maybe it’s the most honest answer. I suppose I’ll find out when my little guy has grown and I see the work ethic he learned, modeled by his mama.